Do You Dare to Bare?

Written by Sara Crook // April 22, 2012 // Fashion // Comments Off

Bare midriffs? Hmm. In my mind, they were reserved for two places and two places only: between a bikini at the beach, or in the rebellious middle school years between a tube top and low-cut jeans. Outside of that, baring parts of your torso seems so taboo and risqué. Just think of all of the coverage and media attention J-Lo’s torso got when she (so flawlessly) donned the green Versace dress to the Grammy’s in 2000!

Why do we shy away from showcasing that region? I can speculate that for many women, it is where our extra serving of dinner rolls or our over-indulgence in chocolate takes up real estate on our bodies. For that reason, material is welcomed to mask that location. But baring your midriff doesn’t have to be as “bare” or “risqué” as one would typically imagine. The Spring 2012 runways displayed a lot of belly baring outfits. Some designs showcased more skin than others, which allows for versatility to suit the trend barer.

Now at this point, you probably still think I am crazy and out of my mind for suggesting that this is an approachable, realistic trend. But, you’ll see that you can jump on board with this trend while controlling your skin revealing levels to suit your comfort zone. I will preface the following trend suggestions with the disclaimer that unless you work in a very relaxed, trend-setting environment, it is best to keep this trend away from the workplace. Sometimes, you just need to draw the line…in this case, the hemline that is.

Here are some ways you can either display the fruit of you ab-work labor or, show just enough skin to demonstrate your support of this trend.

More conservative option (relatively speaking that is- we are talking about bare midriffs after all):